It's by keen observation that allows me to understand the person I am rendering; I could not get that knowledge from a photo alone. Although I use photography as a tool, it has many limitations; I need to see way beyond the photo image, and recreate the person's unique anatomy to capture the life missing in the photo. When you see a rendering, be it very tight or loose, you are confronted with the artist personal vision and language. This process becomes the ultimate collaboration between the artist and the viewer. When the artists mind, eye and hand leaves a lasting mark, viewers of the work start their own investigation thereby recreating the process. Photo-realism itself does not interest me in the least. Realism does, details and textures do, ultimately seeing what others fail to see, until they see it in my work.

A good portrait drawing conveys the presence of the individual, in order to accomplish this task; I need to be in total control, technically, conceptually and emotionally. For this reason I will rarely accept a portrait commission. Not only do I need to find the individual visually interesting, but also I have to be emotionally moved by this person. Drawing and draftsmanship are life-long passions that are heightened by a love of intense observation. By training myself to "see", I am able to celebrate the tiniest nuances that make up the human face. The complex markings, patterns and textures act as a visual journal, giving clues to the sitter's life experiences. Not one shape on the human face is "more important" than another shape. The way light falls on the eye is as important as the structure of the eye itself. The position of the major features give no more of a hint at a persons likeness than the folds in the skin which form patterns that tell of the persons movements and temperament. The way the hair is worn, moisture in the eyes or on the lips, and the way light and shadow play with each other are all clues to the likeness. I long to present the viewer with a unique observation, my emotional reactions and to unravel the clues presented to me in a powerfully composed graphite drawing

born: 1955, Remscheid, Germany

selected honors/awards

Best of show, National drawing exhibition, Kline Gallery, Santa Fe NM
Award of Excellence, Birmingham/Bloomfield Art Association, Birmingham MI
Full Fellowship Vermont Studio Center
Alden B. Dow Museum of Science and Art, Excellence in Technique Award

selected publications

Interlude Magazine, 2005
Detroit Free Press, 2003
The Chicago Tribune, 1996
Remscheider General Anzeiger, 1990

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Northwood Gallery, Studio Works (with Val Allen), 2005
Saginaw Valley State U., Two Into (with Val Allen), 2004
Delta College, Homage, 2003
Northwood Gallery, And Further On (with B.B. Winslow), 2001

selected group shows

45th Annual Greater Michigan, Midland, MI, 2005
The God Show, National Invitational, Ann Arbor MI, 2005
Birmingham/Bloomfield, Birmingham, MI, 2005
New American Drawings III, Santa Fe, NM, 2004